At Death's Door
by Yoonggi
Summary: All-Might finds himself falling through an abyss darkness after the conclusion of the final battle between his most precious student, Izuku Midoriya against the inheritor of All-For-One, Shigaraki Tomura. What's through All-Might's mind as he clings on to life? His vision blurs and everything becomes pitched black; the answers await on his final trial against himself.


The world was enveloped in a blanket of darkness. All-Might couldn't see anything past the abyss. Blue orbs then began to appear, lighting the empty dark void from earlier. From the sinking sensation that All-Might felt, he was falling through the abyss with the blue orbs of light serving as his guide. He saw them twinkling in brilliance. All-Might reached out to touch the blue orbs. He felt a warm sensation on his fingertips, remarking that it felt somewhat familiar to him.

"What's this…?" All-Might slowly began to be sucked into one of the blue orbs that he touched. He was slowly dragged in to the portal and was transported in a different plane. All-Might shielded his eyes from the afternoon sun. He saw from afar, his master, Nana Shimura. She smiled so brightly at him while waving. All-Might felt the wind knocked out of him when he noticed that he was backed to the first time that he and Nana Shimura met.

"Toshinori-kun!" Nana called out to All-Might as she approached her student. All-Might couldn't move an inch, not believing the hallucinations that he was seeing in his dream. "What's the matter?" Nana asked in concern. All-Might slowly felt himself crumbling under Nana's presence. He has long missed his mentor after being separated from her decades ago. Nana instinctively wrapped All-Might into a hug and sighed. "Toshinori… You can finally let go now." She whispered. "There's no need for you to keep holding on this long." she said with a grin.

All-Might felt himself relaxing through Nana's touch. This must've been death that was overwhelming him. These dreams were his lingering thoughts that ran through his mind. All-Might let the feeling of relief take over him when he let himself down onto the ground.

"Master… Is it all over…?" he asked. Nana hummed in response and pointed towards a severely damaged area. From afar, a silhouette of a young man could be seen raising his hand up towards the air to claim victory, striking the same pose as All-Might did when he defeated All-for-One.

Nana ran her hand through All-Might's cheek and smiled at him. "Could you believe it? That little boy that you trained under your wing succeeded in defeating my grandson…" Nana's tears then started to fall onto All-Might's face. He propped himself up with his elbows and wrapped his arms around his master.

All-Might squint his eyes to see that there were actually two silhouettes. One of them was carrying the other one that was unconscious. "Did… Did young Midoriya save your grandson…?" All-Might asked, being affirmed by Nana from her continuous nodding while she sobbed into her hands. "So… He really did become the new symbol of peace… Huh…?" All-Might said out loud. He stretched his arm out into the air and reached for the sun that broke out from the cloudy skies from earlier. He felt nothing but pride from his most precious student. "And to think that I thought he still needed me... Young Midoriya continues to exceed every expectations I have for him..." All-Might smiled wistfully at the unfolding scene of his student being lifted up by numerous people in gratitude and in happiness that he saved the day.

"Toshinori-kun… It's time to let go now… You don't have to carry that burden anymore." Nana reassured her student. All-Might grinned and nodded happily. He had been fighting all his life, trying to prove himself to be the greatest hero there ever was. He carried the world's burdens with a smile and reassured them that he was there. That was his most redeeming quality; his everlasting tenacity. "Toshinori… When you wake up from this dream, you won't have much time left, okay...? At least… Try and give your best at fulfilling your last duty as a mentor towards Izuku-kun, he's a good boy." Nana grinned before covering Toshinori's eyes. "I'll see you soon, okay? I'll be here..." Nana smiled as All-Might's dream began to fade in his mind.

All-Might soon began to feel as he was being lifted up from the sky. From the dark abyss that he came from earlier, he was slowly starting to see the light again. The blue orbs that he touched from earlier turned into short snippets of his memories of the times that he spent with his students and Midoriya. All of the people that helped him get this far in his career as a hero and as a teacher were there in his memories. The light was starting to get brighter by the moment that All-Might was seeing the last snippets of his latest memories.

"All-Might… Please don't go…" All-Might faintly heard Izuku's voice that was calling out to him. When he woke up, he saw the familiar setting from earlier in his dream. A large area of the city had been leveled, and seeing the battered state of his student brought to him sadness. Izuku's left eye was swollen shut while his face was covered in numerous bruises and cuts. The battle had finally been over between One-for-All and All-for-One. The long standing feud between these two clashing ideas has finally been settled by Izuku and Shigaraki. "I-I did it… I did it All-Might… So please keep on fighting. I want you to see me become a great hero like you…"

Izuku cried and begged his mentor to stay alive. The boy held on tight at All-Might's cold hand. He felt the shallow breathing of his mentor slowing beginning to fade. All-Might mustered up all his remaining strength to wipe away at his student's tears. "Oh come now, young Midoriya… You should be celebrating right now, not crying… Smile...! Haven't I told you before that being the symbol of peace means that you face the fear and danger with a smile...? " a weak grinned made it to All-Might's face when he patted Izuku's head to reassure the boy.

Izuku clenched his teeth to stop the flood of tears that spilled on his face. "Please don't go yet… Everybody still needs you… I still need you…!" Izuku further begged his mentor, lightly shaking All-Might. "I-I still have so much to learn about One-for-All...! We could still find a cure for you… Just please… Hold on… Don't go please...!" Izuku felt his heart being ripped apart when he saw the serene smile that All-Might had on his face. "WHY?! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE THAT HIT FOR ME, ALL-MIGHT…?!" Izuku yelled in frustration.

It was because of All-Might's sacrifice that Izuku was still alive and was able to win against Shigaraki. All-Might diverted Shigaraki's attention from earlier to create an opening for Izuku. It was the only way that he could've helped with his fragile state. Up to the last breath of his life, All-Might kept thinking about Izuku. He wanted the boy to be better that he ever was.

All-Might pats Izuku on the head to reassure the boy. All-Might looked in fondness at his precious student. From the once weak and timid boy became this confident and strong-willed young man. He couldn't have it any other way. "Izuku… Thank you…" the hand that wrapped around Izuku's fell limp shortly after. All-Might died with a peaceful look on his face.

The world was then again, cloaked with darkness. All of the warmth that Toshinori felt from earlier had vanished as he was sinking into the dark abyss. He was no longer All-Might. He was no longer the symbol of peace that everybody leaned onto for strength. Toshinori smiled as he fell through the comforting abyss. The memories that he had were slowly vanishing. The blue orbs from Toshinori's dream earlier began to pop into millions of sparkles that dusted the dark void. He relished in the feeling as he was slowly becoming one with One-for-All. Toshinori saw a faint light from away. As he was falling deeper into the abyss, Toshinori heard noises. Nearing the end of the light, Toshinori was greeted with a warm welcome in a plane of existence by the precious generations of One-for-All users.

"Welcome home, Eighth!" Toshinori came face to face with the first user of One-for-All. Behind the First were the others that greeted Toshinori warmly. "Did you know… We were all watching the whole time." He said. "You helped raised the boy into the fine young hero he is today!" Toshinori smiled and looked around for his mentor amongst the small group of people who were praising him.

Nana snuck up behind him and covered his eyes, snickering like a little girl who was excited. "Your little student can only go forward from now on." Nana smiled fondly at Toshinori as she extended her arms out to invite him for a hug.

Toshinori chuckled and nodded. "Yeah… He'll be the number one hero in no time with that pure heart of his. I kinda wished he wasn't such a crybaby anymore… But I guess that's what makes young Midoriya himself."

Toshinori realized it back then when he was new with One-for-All. He had never been alone when he was out facing villains. The previous generations were always behind him, giving him strength and will to carry on. It took decades before Toshinori could realize what One-for-All really was.

It was more than a quirk.

It was an idea.

One-for-All is an idea that means "Heroes clench their fists tight and face danger, not because they are powerful, but it was because they had a reason to go beyond Plus Ultra."

\- End


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